St Patrick's Primary School Pakenham
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136 Princes Highway
Pakenham VIC 3810
Subscribe: https://stppakenham.catholic.edu.au/subscribe

Email: principal@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 03 5943 9000

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"That they may all be one, as you Father, are in me and I am in you"

Newsletter for the 4th of August

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Newsletter for the 4th of August

Newsletter Thursday 4th August 2022

We the staff of St Patrick’s acknowledge the traditional owners, the Kulin nations, of the land on which we learn and play.

We pay respects to the Aboriginal Elders, past and present, who are our teachers.

We thank them for taking care of children and country for countless generations.

Luke 9:57-6

 

2 'I will follow you wherever you go'

As Jesus and his disciples travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’
Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’
Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Good afternoon Parents/carers and guardians,

Last week, our 2 Foundation Grades celebrated their 100 days of Prep and it was a wonderful occasion. Many of the students dressed up for this celebration.

It has been wonderful being able to welcome parents back into the school for last Friday’s assembly, we had over 60 parents/grandparents back in our stadium to watch our Year 2s present their Assembly. It was a magical moment as I reflected and came to the realisation that becoming the Principal of St Patrick’s was absolutely the right thing to do.

Our grade 2 students have enjoyed their swimming this week and I love it as they past my office with lots of energy and smiling faces and ready to learn new skills that will keep them safe during the Summer season. They continue this next week.

  

SunSmart policy

We have been a SunSmart school for over 15 years now and are proud of the message we continue to reinforce and model effective sun smart behaviours. Our policy states:

The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation can’t be seen or felt. Whatever the weather, it’s important for people of all skin types to use sun protection whenever UV levels are three or higher.

Too much of the sun’s UV can cause sunburn, skin and eye damage and skin cancer. UV damage accumulated during childhood and adolescence is strongly associated with an increased risk of skin cancer in later life.

By teaching sensible sun protection habits from an early age and implementing sun protection measures, schools can play a significant role in reducing skin cancer risk.

Working closely with SunSmart Victoria and The Cancer Council, St Patrick’s will be requiring all students and staff to wear an appropriate hat from the 1st of August until the 30th of April.

 

Stay warm and stay safe!

Take care and God Bless

Meg

 

Child Safe Standards

On July 1st, 2022, the Victorian Government has announced new Child Safe Standards. The eleven new standards will replace the original 7 and the principles underlying them. Each week in the newsletter, I will be placing a new standard in for parents, carers and guardians to look over. Please note that this is also a major focus for us at St Patrick’s and other DOSCEL schools.

What will be different?

Although similar to Victoria’s current Child Safe Standards, key changes include new requirements:

  • to involve families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
  • for a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people
  • to manage the risk of child abuse in online environments
  • in relation to governance, systems and processes to keep children and young people safe.

Child Safe Standard 2 – Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture

  • In complying with Child Safe Standard 2, an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:
  • 1 The organisation makes a public commitment to child safety.
  • 2 A child safe culture is championed and modelled at all levels of the organisation from the top down and bottom up.
  • 3 Governance arrangements facilitate implementation of the child safety and wellbeing policy at all levels.
  • 4 A Code of Conduct provides guidelines for staff and volunteers on expected behavioural standards and responsibilities.
  • 5 Risk management strategies focus on preventing, identifying and mitigating risks to children and young people.
  • 6 Staff and volunteers understand their obligations on information sharing and recordkeeping.

  

TERM 3 school closure day-Last day of term Friday the 16th September.

On this day, the staff of St Patrick’s will be participating in a RE Professional Development day that is focused on the Inquiry approach to Religion. What this means for our students is when teachers are preparing Religious Education lessons for the students, the scripture that is used, is chosen carefully in order to ensure that the messages coming through, are relevant to the issues facing our children in this modern world. It is about discussing how Jesus approached his life and his interactions with others and how we can apply this to our own lives and learn from the situation.

 

OPEN DAYS 2023 Term 3 Dates

This year at St Patrick’s, I am pleased to announce that we will once again be introducing Open Days. Open Days are a great way to promote our wonderful school community and to ensure we continue to see our enrolments grow. If you have neighbours that are looking to enrol their children, please let them know about us. The Open Days allow for families to come in at any time during the day and to see the school in action.

Please contact the school office if you have a child that is due to begin school in 2023. If you would like to come for a tour, please contact the school office to make an appointment. Please let your friends and families know about us.

Term 3 Open Days

Wednesday 10th August - 9.30-2.30

Thursday 1st September - 9.30-2.30

PREP ENROLMENTS 2023

If you have a child who is coming to school next year, please ensure the Enrolment Application form is completed at your earliest convenience.

No Right Turn Sign-The Avenue carpark

For those parents using The Avenue car park for drop off and pick up, you will notice a new NO RIGHT TURN sign at the exit of the carpark. This means that traffic exiting The Avenue car park MUST TURN LEFT. Please ensure you are doing the right thing. You are role models for your children and disobeying road rules is not a message that should be relayed to them.

 

Preteens Youth Group Grades 4, 5 and 6 students-DIVINE-FAITH FORMATION PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN

St Patrick’s and St Clare’s along with the Parish is setting up the Pre-teens youth group. See the flyer below for the dates and contact numbers if you are interested. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know new people and to have time to discuss your faith whilst having fun and sharing some food and soft drinks. SEE FLYER BELOW.

 

Notifying the School of an Absence-IMPORTANT

Due to the increase in students not being at school, the office is taking several hours each day to chase up each absent student. I ask all parents to either use PAM or to contact the office directly to let them know that your child/ren will not be at school that day. We have a legal responsibility to know where the students are every day.

Parents please also note, that you are not able to talk to the teacher’s directly when ringing through to the school office. The teachers are in with the students and therefore staff cannot attend to phone calls to parents. If you wish to pass on a message to a teacher, please email them or ring the school office and ask the office staff to pass on the message to the teacher. Thank you.

 

St Francis Xavier year 7 enrolments 2023-TALK AND TOUR WITH HEAD OF CAMPUS

Any parents wishing to begin the process of enrolling their child/ren for Year 7 at St Francis Xavier next year, may be interested in one of their Head of Campus Talk and Tour dates. Families can register on their website. See below for details.

St Francis Xavier will also be holding specific tours (with translators for Chin speakers and people from South Sudanese languages) for our community and dates will be sent to you when they are confirmed.

 

Head of Campus Talk & Tour Dates 9.30 to 11.00am

6 September, 11 October, 8 November.

 

 

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COVIDSAFE MEASURES FOR SCHOOLS

Information for parents, guardians and carers

WATCH FOR SYMPTOMS

  • If your child is unwell, even with mild COVID-19 symptoms, you must keep your child at home until their symptoms resolve and get your child tested with a PCR test (nose and throat swab) or complete a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT).
  • If symptoms continue, your child should stay home and take another RAT or PCR test in 24 hours. If that test is also negative, your child may return to school if another diagnosis is confirmed (such as an underlying health condition or medication).

 

FACE MASKS

  • Wearing a face mask can help protect you and those around you. Face masks stop droplets spreading when you talk, cough, sneeze and laugh, which lowers your chance of spreading or catching COVID-19.
  • It is strongly recommended that face masks are worn indoors (noting that exceptions to the recommendation apply to circumstances when clear enunciation or visibility of the mouth is essential).
  • Everyone aged eight (8) years or over must wear a face mask when travelling to and from school, on public transport, taxis or ride share vehicles, unless a lawful exemption applies. This includes when travelling to and from activities, school camps and excursions on school buses or via public transport.
  • All students aged eight (8) years or older who are household or household-like close contacts attending a school will be required to wear a face mask indoors while at the school and while travelling to and from the school, unless an exception applies.
  • Parents, guardians or carers who are COVID-19 positive who leave self-isolation to transport their child(ren) to or from school via a private vehicle must wear a face mask at all times and must adhere to other additional safety requirements.

  

VACCINATIONS

  • As part of the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out, all students aged five (5) and over are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Staff and students are strongly encouraged to ensure they keep up-to-date with all recommended and available COVID-19 vaccinations as they are considered the best way to protect individuals, families and school communities from the spread of COVID-19.

 

TESTING

  • RAT kits will continue to be provided to all staff and students at no charge. Schools will inform parents, guardians and carers on how these kits can be collected from the school.
  • If a student has symptoms of COVID-19, they should undertake a PCR or RAT and must self-isolate until they receive a negative test result.

 

HOUSEHOLD AND HOUSEHOLD-LIKE CONTACTS

  • Household and household-like contacts are no longer required to quarantine but are required to undertake the following additional safety measures in the seven (7) days that would have been their quarantine period:

        o notify the school if returning during their seven (7)-day period;

        o undertake daily rapid antigen testing five (5) times within the seven (7) days;

        o wear a face mask indoors (if aged eight (8) and above) unless a lawful
           exemption applies;

        o are not permitted to visit hospitals or care facilities unless an exemption
           applies.

  • Household and household-like contacts are still permitted to participate in school activities, including camps and excursions, as long as they wear a mask when indoors (if aged eight (8) and above or have a valid exception) and complete five (5) rapid antigen tests within the seven (7)-day period that would have been their quarantine period.
  • A household or household-like contact attending an off-site activity during this period must notify the school they are attending under these requirements.
  • If a student, parent, guardian or carer cannot comply with the additional safety measures at any time, they must: o quarantine immediately for the remainder of their seven (7)-day household contact period

        o get tested on Day one (1) (or as soon as possible) and on Day six (6) of their            household contact period

        o not attend school until a negative Day six (6) test result is received.

 

  

COVID-19 POSITIVE CASES

  • If your child has no symptoms and there is a positive COVID-19 case in their household, class, year level or other grouping, your child can continue to attend school in line with Victorian Department of Health advice.
  • Staff and students who receive a positive RAT result must register it on the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form available on the Coronavirus Victoria website https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/report as soon as possible.
  • Staff and students who receive a positive RAT or PCR test result must tell their school as soon as possible, and follow Victorian Department of Health advice.

 

  • Students who test positive to COVID-19 must isolate for seven (7) days and not attend school during that period.
  • Students who have recovered from COVID-19, are not required to get tested or isolate if they are re-exposed to a positive COVID-19 case within four (4) weeks of ending their isolation period.
  • After the four-week exemption period, students must follow the relevant testing and isolation advice depending on the type of COVID-19 contact they are.
  • Schools will regularly communicate to parents, guardians and carers about the presence and impact of COVID-19 in their school community. Parents, guardians and carers should expect to be provided with details of any impacted grade, year level or other grouping.

 

VENTILATION

  • The Victorian Government has provided air purifiers for all schools.
  • Fresh air is the most effective form of ventilation to minimise the risk of transmission.
  • Schools are required to increase fresh air flow into indoor spaces (including shared spaces, staff areas and thoroughfares) whenever possible.
  • Using outdoor spaces will continue to be encouraged, where practicable.

 

ACTIVITIES

  • COVID-19 will continue to be considered in all activity risk assessments. Guidance will be provided to schools on applying appropriate safeguards across a range of activities, including school camps and excursions.
  • Parents, guardians and carers will be made aware of the risk of exposure and will need to provide their permission for their child’s participation in extra-curricular, out of school hours or off-site activities.

 

STUDENT COHORTING

  • Schools may consider using cohort arrangements, staggered drop-off and pick-ups, break times, playground and canteen access if required.
  • Depending on the school, cohort size and timetables, cohorts may be based on classes, years or stages.

 

VISITORS

  • Visitors are required to comply with COVIDSafe measures, including physical distancing requirements and practise respiratory etiquette and good hand hygiene.
  • Parents, guardians, carers and other adult visitors are no longer required to show evidence of a COVID-19 vaccine, including when performing work or volunteering at the school.

 

KEEPING SCHOOLS OPEN

  • Parents, guardians and carers are asked to respect the rules at their child’s school to help keep the community safe.
  • Schools will do everything they can to maintain continuity of face-to-face learning including the increased use of casual staff.
  • Schools will continue to make localised staffing decisions to ensure appropriate supervision can be maintained.
  • Schools will not be able to guarantee particular staff for any cohort and students may not have their regular teacher for a class.

 

LEARNING FROM HOME

  • We will continue to monitor the situation and where face-to-face learning is not possible, learning from home options will be supported for short periods.
  • Students who are required to isolate or quarantine will be provided with learning materials to support their continued learning. Schools are not expected to provide a full remote learning program in these circumstances.

 

Date

Activity

01/08/2022 Year 2 Swimming Lessons Begin
05/08/2022 Year 6 Interschool Sport - HOME
12/08/2022 Year 6 Interschool Sports - AWAY
19/08/2022 Year 6 Interschool Sports - HOME
22/08/2022 Year 5 Sovereign Hill Camp
SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS 
16/09/2022 Diocesan RE day
03/10/2022 Data review Day
31/10/2022 Data analysis and report writing day.
19/12/2022 Whole 2023 staff planning and student handover
20/12/2022

Whole staff clean up and moving day

TERM DATES

2022 First Day Last Day
Term 1 31st January  8th April
Term 2 26th April 24th June
Term 3 11th July 15th September
Term 4 3rd October 17th December

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Noah 2KK, Latjhur 6DD, Liam 3RD, Jude FIM and Kelsey 4AT !

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TERM 3, Week 3, 2022 - CLASS AWARDS

✔️

Student

Comment

FIM

Roman 

For doing excellent work with your sounds and reading lots of new words. Well done!

FAF

Emmanuel 

For being positive throughout the Term and trying your very best. Keep up the good work!

1GW

1RV

Belinda 

For always trying your best in your learning and for being a caring and helpful class member. Well done Belinda.

1DO

Shelly 

For settling well into St. Patrick’s Primary School and 1 D.O.. Great work Shelly.

2ET

Laura Cin Zah

For always displaying excellent learning behaviours and working hard to complete your work to the best possible standard. 

2KK

Innocent Sira

For being a great team player and classroom friend. Thank you for your kind heart and friendly personality!

2KG

Reagan 

For your bravery and wonderful efforts reading at assembly.

3RD

Charlotte 

For showing great determination to understand her learning tasks

3NC

George 

For being able to articulate the ways justice should be shown to others

3RM

Ava 

For her amazing poetry writing

4SM

Riley 

For trying hard to make improvements with his work and focusing on his work without distractions.  Well done!

4AT

Riya 

For doing her utmost to complete all written work to the best of her ability.

Riya you have proved to be a super worker, making good use of your time. It is a pleasure to have you in our class.

4GD

Mikayla 

For being a kind, caring and responsible student.

5RS

Dylan 

For working diligently to complete all set tasks. Your determination to complete work is wonderful, keep on trying your very best!

5SA

Heaven Bawitha

For working hard to complete the learning tasks and to turn them in on time.

5ES

Krissie 

For applying more effort and concentration into your work this week. Keep up the wonderful effort Krissie. 

6BC

Ryan

For an awesome oral presentation about sports, from an interesting perspective!

6TA

Xavier

For being an independent learner,who consistently asks questions and remains on task

6DD

Apiel

For demonstrating outstanding leadership on the football field, in the classroom and all throughout the school.  Awesome work. 

Japanese

2KG

For great listening and focusing during Japanese this week

STEM

2KK

For working efficiently and successfully to complete the amazing mazes

PE

5SA (Week 2)

For “Team Spirit” supporting each other in their game of Newcombe

PE

Foundation IM

For working at stations cooperatively

Last week our foundation students celebreated their 100th day of school.

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We have had our first round of our Winter School Sports Program where all year 6 students participating in either AFL, netball or newcombe.

If you wish to attend the games you no longer have to sign in through the office. Please park in the Avenue carpark and use those gates to enter the school.

For all home games please arrive at 1:30pm

Below is a fixture of all upcoming games.

Fixture 2022 (may be subject to changes)

05/08

Vs. Trinity, Narre Warren South

Home Game

12/08

Vs. St Therese’s Cranbourne Nth

Away

19/08

Vs. St John’s, KooWeeRup

Home Game

26/08

BYE

NO GAME

In June Kane competed in the Southern Cross National Exhibition with his photograph 'The Tree of Wonders'.

Kane did extremely well and won 3rd place, recieving a bronze medal.

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Confirmation Commitment Masses

Dear Parents,

The second commitment for the students celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation, is attendance at one of the weekend Masses at St Patrick’s Parish during the weekends of Saturday 6 August or Sunday 7 August or Saturday 13 August or Sunday 14 August.

Mass times: Sat 6pm, Sun 9am, 10.30am and 5pm

There will be sheets for you to register that your child has attended. There are 4 masses available each week, and this enables us to cater for sporting commitments etc.

Don't forget to book your Confirmation Mass, this can be done through the Parish's website: https://stpatrickspakenham.com.au/

Please support your child by showing your commitment for the mass attendance.

Thank you,

Noleen Chalmers

Religious Education Leader.

Have you set up your PAM account yet! 

We have been using PAM as our main form of communication.  All emails, Student Attendance, Sick Bay notes, School Reports, commonly used forms, excursion/camp permission notes and Family Learning conversations, will all be communicated via PAM.  

Access PAM via this link   Link to PAM 

PAM - Parent Access Module

PAM (Parent Access Module) is our new Parent to School communication platform.   PAM will provide real time access to keep parents updated with their children’s progress, important dates and messages. Relevant resources – calendar events, student reports, parent notified absences, absence data and sick bay notes will all be accessed via PAM.

Parents will be able to easily book Parent Teacher interviews through PAM, and access teacher email addresses. 

PAM accounts are linked via your email address that we have in our systems.  If you have recently changed your email,  please call or email us on office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

Click on the 'forget password' link to set your password and then verify your email address.  (Email addresses must be verified for PAM to work properly).  Once your email is verified, your email can be used as the username for your account.

Once you have successfully logged in, you can save PAM to your homescreen on your device.

If you have any issues or need help with PAM please contact the school via email, office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

PAM Instructions

Parent Notified Absences via PAM

Once you have PAM set up and saved to your home screen you can easily send in Parent Notified absences.   Please use this platform going forward as this automatically syncs with the class roll.   This will fix the issues of receiving SMS notifications even though you had already notified the school. 

P & F Committee Update 28\7\2022

What’s happening now?
Popcorn every Wednesday $2.00 per bag


What’s coming up this term?
24\8\2022 P&F Meeting in MOPAC 9am.
31\8\2022 Father Day Active Morning.
31\8\2022 Father Day stall.
15\9\2022 Fun Food Day- Pie and a drink.
15\9\2022 Footy themed casual dress day.

What we are working on?
CDF Pay is on it’s way!

More details will be provided for our upcoming events closer to the date. Watch this space!


Please remember to update your contact details and any relevant medical details for your child.  

Most medical profiles have now been updated. Please remember to keep them up to date and upload any asthma/allergy plans that may be relevant 

To update any contact details please contact the school office. 

Maria and Auxillia, together with St. Patricks Parish, Pakenham and the St. Patrick's Fundraising committee, have organised an event to help raise funds for the building of our new church.
Due to Covid19 our building costs have greatly increased totalling over 1 million dollar. At the moment we are sitting at $167, 370.22 of funds raising so far.
So we have organised a Karaoke Night which will be held this weekend Saturday 6th August 2022 at 7pm
Tickets are $10 for 6yrs and above and 5yrs and below go for FREE.
Tickets and food can be purchased online on the parish website at the below link:
You can scroll down to have a look at the menu for the night and then click the link at the bottom of the page which would take you to the trybooking page where you can purchase your entry tickets and food. The booking of food online will close on Thursday 4th August. Tickets & Food can also be purchased on the day at the event.
It is going to be a night not to be missed!!!
This night is simply about having lots of fun with great company, delicious food and drinks, entertainment, a karaoke competition, singing and dancing, raffle draws with great prizes, a photo booth for your memories, games more.
All entry tickets will also, go into a raffle draw to win fantastic prizes.
If you would like to donate or help put on the day or have any queries you can call or message Auxillia 0405844557 or Maria 0433 640 828.
Your Support and Contribution is greatly appreciated.
We hope to see you all there!!!
Thanks & God Bless
Maria & Auxillia
On Behalf of St. Patricks Parish, Pakenham.

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